Balloon vending machine

ABSTRACT

IN A MACHINE FOR VENDING INFLATED BALLONS FROM A FLEXIBLE CONVEYING BELT HAVING OPENINGS UNIFORMLY SPACED APART ALONG THE BELT TO RETAIN THE NECKS OF UNINFLATED BALLOONS EACH HAVING A CHECK VALUE IN THE RESPECTIVE NECK, AND IN WHICH INDEXING MOVEMENTS ARE IMPARTED TO THE BELT TO SUCCESSIVELY BEING THE BALLOONS TO AN INFLATING STATION WHERE EACH BALLOM IS INFLATED WITH GASES SUPPLIED THETO THROUGH A NOZZEL ENGAGED, FROM ABOVE, WITH THE RESPECTIVE CHECK, VALVE, DEVICES ARE PROVIDED TO PREVENT TAMPERING WITH THE BALLOONS OR THEIR REMOVAL FROM THE BELT PRIOR TO INFLATION AND TO ENSURE THAT EACH BALLOON, WHEN BEING INFLATED, PROPERTY DEPENDS FROM THE BELT FOR AVOIDING BURSING OF THE BALLOONS DURING INFLATION.

1911 J. G. DELI-0 MONO 3,616,823

' BALLOON VENDING MACHINE Filed May '27,, 1070 2 Shoots-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JOHN G. DELLO IACONO ATTORNEY Nov. 2, 1971 J. DELLQ lAcoNo 3,616,823

BALLOON vmmme momma Filed May 27, W70 2 Shoots-Shoat 2 FIG. 2.

INVENTOR. JOHN G. DELLO IACONO h-kw ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,616,823 BALLOON VENDING MACHINE John G. Dello Iacono, Camp Hill, Pa., assignor to Miner Industries, Inc. Filed May 27, 1970, Ser. No. 40,865 Int. Cl. B65b 43/12 US. Cl. 141137 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a machine for vending inflated balloons from a flexible conveying belt having openings uniformly spaced apart along the .belt to retain the necks of uninflated balloons each having a check valve in the respective neck, and in which indexing movements are imparted to the belt to successively bring the balloons to an inflating station where each balloon is inflated with gases supplied thereto through a nozzle engaged, from above, with the respective check valve, devices are provided to prevent tampering with the balloons or their removal from the belt prior to inflation and to ensure that each balloon, when being inflated, properly depends from the belt for avoiding bursting of the balloons during inflation.

This invention relates to balloon vending machines, and more particularly is directed to improvements in machines for vending inflated balloons which are of the type disclosed in the co-pending application for US. Letters Patent identified as Ser. No. 746,168, filed July 19, 1968, now Pat. No. 3,536,110 and having a common assignee herewith.

A machine of the type referred to above vends inflated balloons from a flexible conveying belt having openings uniformly spaced apart along the belt to receive and frictionally retain therein the necks of uninflated balloons each having a check valve in the respective neck. The flexible belt is guided, with the balloons depending therefrom, in a substantially horizontal path past a rest station and an inflating station spaced apart by substantially the distance between adjacent openings in the belt. An inflating nozzle is engaged from above with the check valve of a balloon at the rest station and, while thus engaged, is moved parallel to the horizontal path to the inflating station for indexing the belt whereupon the balloon at the inflating station is inflated with gases supplied through the nozzle engaged with its check valve. Following the inflation of a balloon at the inflating station, the nozzle is retracted upwardly out of engagement with the valve of the inflated balloon and returned to the rest station for engagement with the valve of the balloon next in line in the belt. Simultaneously with such engagement of the nozzle with the valve of the balloon next in line in the belt, the previously inflated balloon and its check valve holding the inflating gases within the balloon are ejected or separated from the belt to permit removal of the inflated balloon from the vending machine. The horizontal path along which the balloon conveying belt is indexed extends across a horizontal wall, for example, the top wall of a compartment opening at the front of the vending machine cabinet, and such wall has an aperture through which the successive balloons conveyed to the inflating station are to depend for inflation within the compartment.

In a balloon vending machine of the described type, it is desirable that the spacing between adjacent balloonreceiving openings of the belt be minimized in order to economize on the length of the conveying belt required for the vending of any particular number of balloons. However, the adoption of a minimal Spacing between adjacent balloon-receiving openings of the conveying belt ice results in a correspondingly relatively small distance between the inflating station and the rest station. By reason of such relatively small distance between the inflating and rest stations, it may be possible for a vandal to reach through the aperture in the wall underlying the path of the conveying belt and tamper with the balloon located at the rest station prior to the initiation of the operating cycle of the vending machine. Further, the mentioned aperture in the wall underlying the path of the conveying belt is preferably made as small as possible, for example to avoid tampering therethrough with mechanisms of the vending machine disposed above such wall. However, when the aperture is provided with the desirably relatively small dimensions, there is a possibility that the balloon conveyed to the inflating station will have its end portion hung up on an edge of the aperture so that the balloon, when being inflated, will not freely depend through the aperture. If the balloon does not freely depend from the conveying belt through the aperture in the underlying Wall during inflation of the balloon, the balloon will not be able to expand fully as it receives the inflating gases and bursting of the balloon will result.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a balloon vending machine of the described type with a device to prevent tampering with the balloons or their removal from the belt prior to inflation.

'Another object is to provide a balloon vending machine of the described type with a device ensuring that each balloon, when being inflated, properly depends from the conveying belt for avoiding bursting of the balloons during inflation.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a balloon vending machine of the described type with a device which, in addition to preventing tampering with the balloons or their removal from the belt prior to inflation, serves to positionally stabilize the check valve of each balloon at the rest station for ensuring the proper engagement of the inflating nozzle with such check valve.

In accordance with an aspect of this invention, a balloon vending machine of the described type is provided with a blocking member disposed under the path of the conveying belt at the rest station and being movable between a raised position, where it is located closely below the check valve of a balloon at the rest station to prevent downward removal of such balloon from the belt and further to positionally stabilize the check valve during its engagement by the inflating nozzle at the rest station, and further with an actuating assembly which disposes the blocking member in such raised position when the inflating nozzle is at the rest station and which, in response to the movement of the inflating nozzle from the rest station toward the inflating station, permits movement of the blocking member to a lowered position for freeing the balloon at the rest station for movement to the inflating station with indexing of the belt.

A further feature of this invention resides in the provision of a balloon vending machine of the described type with a whip member movable downwardly from under the path of the conveying belt between the inflating and rest stations after a balloon has been conveyed to the inflating station to ensure that such ballon depends freely from the belt prior to its inflation and does not have an end portion of the ballon hung up on an edge of the aperture in the wall that underlies the conveying belt path. Such whip member is normally displaced to one side of the conveying belt path so as to avoid interference with movement of the balloons from the rest station to the inflating station, and means are provided, for example, actuable by the ejecting member, to move the whip member laterally under the conveying belt path upon movement of the inflating nozzle to the inflating station.

The above, and other objects, features and advantages of this invention, will be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a portion of a balloon vending machine according to an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the portion of the balloon vending machine appearing on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 on FIG. 1, and showing the inflating nozzle engaged with a balloon at the rest station while the ejecting member effects removal from the belt of a previously inflated balloon;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, but showing the carriage which carries the inflating nozzle and ejecting member displaced to position the inflating nozzle at the inflating station;

FIG. 5 is a detail horizontal sectional view taken along the line 55 on FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of an assembly provided for actuating the whip member as viewed in the direction of the arrows 6'6 on FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, it will be seen that, in a balloon vending machine embodying this invention and shown to be of the type disclosed in application Ser. No. 746,168, identified more fully above, a horizontal wall 10 is provided within the cabinet (not shown) of the vending machine and may constitute the top wall of a box-like compartment opening at the front of the vending machine cabinet. Each of the balloons B to be vended or dispensed has the usual neck with a thickened rim or bead extending around its mouth, and a check valve assembly V is secured in the mouth of the balloon (FIGS. 3 and 4) to permit the passage of gas therethrough only in the direction for inflating the balloon. The valve assembly V provided for each of the balloons B may be generally of the type disclosed in detail in the application for US. Letters Patent Ser. No. 837,691, filed June 30, 1969, and having a common assignee herewith.

The balloons B to be vended or dispensed are releasably carried by an elongated, flexible belt or web 11 formed of a plastic or other suitable material and having openings 12 (FIG. 3) that are uniformly spaced apart along the belt and each dimensioned to receive and frictionally retain the neck of a balloon B provided with a valve assembly V. The belt 11 with ballons B suspended therefrom is laid in folds or otherwise stored in a receptacle (not shown) and is drawn upwardly from such storage receptacle and fed along guide members 13 that are suitably mounted to extend laterally across wall 10. Guide members 13 may be in the form of spaced apart, parallel channels opening towards each other so as to slidably receive the longitudinal edge portions of belt 11 with the necks of the successive ballons held in openings 12 of belt 11 being accommodated in the slot or space defined between guide members 13.

As is apparent on FIGS. 3 and 4, belt 11 is arranged in guide members 13 so that, in the portion of the belt extending along the guide members across wall 10, the balloons carried by the belt are suspended from the latter to successively depend from the belt through an opening 14 in wall 10 when the belt opening 12 receiving a balloon is moved to an inflating station 5;, and further so that, in the portion of the belt extending across wall 10, the valve assemblies V of the balloons will project upwardly from belt 11 between guide members '13.

A nozzle 15 is mounted for movement parallel to the path of travel of belt 11 determined by guide members v13; through an indexing stroke by which nozzle 15 is moved to inflating station S (FIG. 4) from a rest station S (FIG. 3) which is in advance of the inflating station by substantially the distance between adjacent openings 12 in returned to rest station S and also for movement of nozzle 15 in directions toward and away from the belt path, that is, vertically, between active and retracted positions at which the nozzle is engageable with the valve V of a balloon B retained in an opening of the belt (FIGS. 3 and 4) and the nozzle is substantially spaced upwardly from the belt, respectively.

:In order to mount nozzle 15 for the foregoing movements thereof, the balloon vending machine, as shown, has a carriage 16, which may be of inverted U-shaped cross-section so as to open downwardly, and which is provided with outwardly directed flanges 17 (FIG. 1) extending along its lower edges and being slidably received in tracks 18 which are suitably supported above guide members 13. Mounted vertically on top of carriage 16 is an actuating cylinder Z19 having a piston (not shown) vertically reciprocable therein and a piston rod 20 extending downwardly from such piston and projecting from the lower end of cylinder 19 for attachment to the center of a support yoke 21 which is vertically movable within carriage '16. Nozzle 15 is suspended beneath support yoke 21 adjacent one end of the latter, as by a nut 22 threaded on a stem 23 which projects upwardly from nozzle 15 and passes freely through an opening in the top of carriage 16.

It will be apparent that vertical movements of support yoke 21 with piston rod 20 relative to carriage 16 will effect movement of nozzle 15 vertically toward and away from the path of travel of belt 11 along guide members 13 extending across wall 10, and that lateral movements of carriage 16 along tracks 18 will effect movements of nozzle 15 parallel to the path of the belt.

The movement of nozzle 15 to its active position for engagement with the valve of a balloon retained in an opening of belt 11 may be eflected by a spring (not shown) disposed in cylinder 19 and acting downwardly on the piston in the latter so as to urge support yoke 21 in the downward direction, and the upward movement of nozzle 15 to its retracted position away from belt 11 may be effected by supplying fluid under pressure, preferably compressed air, to the lower end of cylinder 19, as through a conduit 24, so that such fluid under pressure acts upwardly on the piston in cylinder 19 to raise the yoke 21.

In order to effect movement of nozzle 15 parallel to the path of belt 11, there is provided a cylinder 25 mounted horizontally on a bracket 26 which spans tracks 18. Cylinder 25 has a piston (not shown) reciprocable therein and from which there extends a piston rod 27 projecting axially from cylinder 25 and being adjustably connected adjacent its free end to a cross piece 28' spanning the adjacent end of carriage 16. Movement of nozzle 15 through its indexing stroke from rest station S to inflating station 8, may be effected by supplying fluid under pressure, preferably compressed air, to the left-hand end of cylinder 25, as viewed on FIG. 3, so that the compressed air acts within cylinder 25 against the piston therein for extending piston rod 27 from the cylinder and thereby laterally displacing carriage 16 toward the right from the position shown on FIG. 3 to the position shown on FIG. 4. The return stroke of nozzle 15 for moving the latter from inflating station S to rest station S may be effected by a spring (not shown) disposed within cylinder 25 for action on the piston in the latter.

The described movements of nozzle 15 may be controlled, for example, by an electro-pneumatic control system as specifically disclosed in application Ser. No. 746,168, so as to effect the indexing stroke of the nozzle with the latter in its active position, that is, with nozzle 15 engaging the valve V of a balloon B carried by belt 11, whereby the belt is carried along in an indexing movement by which the balloon having its valve engaged by nozzle 15 is moved from rest station S to inflating statron S and, after a period of dwell of nozzle 15 at inflating station S during which period the balloon having its valve engaged by the nozzle is inflated, the return stroke of nozzle from the inflating station to the rest station is effected with the nozzle in its retracted or raised position so as to avoid engagement of the nozzle with the valves of balloons suspended from the belt, whereupon the nozzle is restored to its active position for engagement. with the valve of the balloon then at the rest station (FIG. 3). Thus, nozzle 15 in the illustrated balloon vending machine performs the dual functions of effecting the indexing movement of belt 11 for bringing the foremost balloon suspended from the belt to the inflating station S during each indexing stroke of the nozzle, and of engaging the valve of each balloon, when at the inflating station, for supplying the gases therethrough by which the balloon is inflated.

Further, the illustrated ballon vending machine is provided with means operative upon return of nozzle 15 to rest station S (FIG. 3) to effect separation from belt 11 of the previously inflated ballon at inflating station S Such means for effecting separation of the previously inflated ballon from the belt is shown to include an ejecting member 29 adjustably suspended from support yoke 21 adjacent the end of the latter remote from nozzle 15, as by a threaded stem engaged by nuts 31, and being spaced from nozzle 15 in the direction of the indexing movement of belt 11 by a distance equal to the spacing between adjacent belt openings 12. Thus, when nozzle 15 is returned to rest station S ejecting member 29 is disposed at inflating station S As is shown, ejecting member 29 is vertically disposed lower than nozzle 15 so that, when nozzle 15 is moved downwardly to its active position for engagement with the valve V of a balloon B at rest station S ejecting member 29 is moved downwardly to project through the belt opening at inflating station S and thus acts downwardly on the valve V of the previously inflated balloon B to eject the latter from the related belt opening. Since ejecting member 29 is connected through support yoke 21 with nozzle 15 to move as a unit with the latter, it will be apparent that, during the indexing stroke of nozzle 15 with such nozzle in its active position, ejecting member 29 will continue to project downwardly through an opening 12 of belt 11 and hence will assist in effecting the indexing movement of the belt. Of course, when nozzle 15 is displaced upwardly to its retracted position, ejecting member 29 is similarly displaced upwardly away from belt 11, whereby to clear the top of the valve of the balloon at the inflating station upon the return stroke of nozzle 15 to rest station S The gases for inflating each of the successive balloons at inflating station S are preferably comprised of compressed air and helium under pressure supplied to a flexible conduit 32 connected with stem 23 of nozzle 15, and the system for supplying such gases to conduit 32 may also be of the arrangement specifically disclosed in application Ser. No. 746,168.

When the distance between adjacent openings 12 in belt 11 is minimized so as to economize on the length of belt required for the vending of a particular number of balloons conveyed by the belt, the balloon B located at the rest station S at the completion of a vending operation (FIG. 3) may be accessible through opening 14 of wall .10 and the space 33 defined between wall 10 and belt 11 supported by guide members 13. By reason of such access, a vandal may reach through aperture 14 into space 33 and tamper with the balloon B at rest station S or remove such balloon downwardly from belt 11, in which case, the subsequent vending operation of the machine would fail to dispense an inflated balloon. In order to avoid such tampering with the balloon at rest station S the balloon vending machine according to this invention is provided with a blocking member 34 (FIGS. 3 and 4) disposed under the path of belt 11 at rest station S and being movable between a raised position (FIG. 3) and a lowered position (FIG. 4). In its raised position, blocking member 34 is located closely below the check valve V of the balloon B at rest station 8;, to prevent downward removal of such balloon from belt 11. Further, when in its raised position, blocking member 34 positionally stabilizes the check valve V of the balloon at rest station S that is, it ensures the proper location of the valve V, during its initial engagement by inflating nozzle 15 at the rest station. Thus, with blocking member 34 in its raised position (FIG. 3), a vandal reaching upwardly through aperture 14 in wall 10 cannot remove the balloon at rest station S from the belt and also cannot tamper with the proper alignment or location of the balloon and its check valve with respect to the belt 11.

In the embodiment shown, blocking member 34 is formed of bent sheet metal and extends over a portion of wall 10 to aperture 14 with an end portion 35 of the blocking member extending substantially vertically downward therefrom and reaching into aperture 14along the adjacent edge of the latter. With blocking member 34 in its raised position (FIG. 3) end portion 35 thereof substantially hinders access through aperture .14 into the space 33. The movement of blocking member 34 between its raised and lowered positions is made possible by piv'otally mounting member 34 on wall 10, as by a hinge structure 36 disposed at the end of blocking member 34 remote from end portion 35. Such hinge structure 36 may be simply constituted by an upwardly directed lip 37 formed along the adjacent end edge of member 34 and which is in loosely interlocking engagement with a downwardly directed lip 38 formed on a sheet metal member 39 suitably secured on top of wall 10.

Since blocking member 34 is hingedly supported at one end, as by the hinge structure 36 described above, the blocking member 34 is gravitationally urged to its lowered position (FIG. 4) in which end portion 35 thereof projects downwardly through aperture 14. In order to dispose blocking member 34 in its raised position when carriage 16 is located to dispose nozzle 15 at rest station S the vending machine according to this invention further has an actuating mechanism 40 (FIG. 2) for blocking member 34. Such actuating mechanism 40 is shown to include a bell crank or lever member 41 pivoted intermediate its ends on a pin 42 supported by a side portion of the member 39. A substantially horizontally extending leg 43 of lever 41 carries a pin 44 at its free end which extends laterally inward through an arcuate slot 45 formed in the adjacent side portion of member 39. The pin 44 after extending through arcuate slot 45 engages under blocking member 34 (FIGS. 3 and 4) and thus is adapted to hold the blocking member in its raised position when pin 44 is located at the upper end of slot 45, as shown on FIG. 2. Lever 41 is further shown to have a leg 46 directed upwardly from its pivoting axis and being engageable by an operating member 47 carried by carriage 16 (FIG. 2). As shown, operating member 47 may be in the form of a threaded rod depending from a bracket 48 which projects laterally from a side of carriage 16 and which is located so that operating member 47 engages leg 46 to hold lever 41 in the position shown on FIG. 2 only when carriage 16 is located to dispose nozzle 15 at rest station S However, by reason of the described configuration of lever 41, when operating member 47 moves toward the right, as viewed on FIG. 2, away from leg 46, for example, in response to the indexing stroke of nozzle 15 from rest station S toward inflating station S lever 41 is gravitationally turned in the clockwise direction to move pin downwardly in slot 45 and thereby to permit blocking member 34 to be gravitationally moved to its lowered position (FIG. 4). Such movement of blocking member 34 to its lowered position occurs during the initial part of the indexing stroke of nozzle 15 so that the balloon B at the rest station S is immediately freed for movement to the inflating station S in response to the indexing movement of belt 11.

During the concluding portion of the return stroke of nozzle 15 from inflating station S to rest station S operating member 47 again engages leg 46 of lever 41 and rocks the latter back to the position shown on FIG. 2, whereby pin 44 again lifts blocking member 34 to its raised position (FIG. 3). Thus, the necessary movements of blocking member 34 are imparted thereto in response to, and in accordance with the movements of carriage 16 parallel to belt 11.

Further, if the spacing between adjacent balloon suspended from belt 11 is minimized, for the reasons described above, and aperture 14 in wall is similarly provided with a relatively small dimension in the direction of movement of belt 11 so as to restrict access to a balloon at the rest station S and further to restrict access to any other mechanisms of the vending machine that may be disposed in the space 33, there is the danger that a balloon B upon being conveyed to the inflating station S will have its free end hung up on an edge portion of aperture 14 or on the adjacent part of blocking member 34, for example, as shown in full lines on FIG. 4. If the balloon B is thus hung up on an edge portion of aperture 14 when the balloon is located at inflating station S the balloon will not be free to expand fully in response to the feeding of the inflating gases thereto through nozzle 15 and bursting of the balloon may result. In other words, proper inflation of the balloon at inflating station S requires that such balloon depend freely from belt 11 through aperture 14, for example, as indicated in broken lines at B on FIG. 4. In accordance with the present invention, a balloon vending machine of the described type is further provided with a whip assembly 50 operable on each balloon conveyed to inflating station S to ensure that such balloon freely depends from belt 11 through aperture 14 prior to the inflation of the balloon. As shown, the whip assembly 50 comprises a support bracket 51 located in space 33 at the downstream side of inflating station S that is, at the side of such station remote from rest station S Bracket 51 is mounted for horizontal swinging, as on a pivot post 52 which extends upwardly from Wall 10 at one lateral side of the path of belt 11, and a torsion spring 53 is provided on post 52 to yieldably urge bracket 51 to the angled position shown on FIGS. 1 and 3 in which a side flange 54 extending along one side of bracket 51 projects under the path of belt 11.

A Whip member 55, which may be formed of a suitably bent rod of Z-configuration, as shown, has one end portion 56 thereof suitably journalled in bracket 51 so that whip member 55 is vertically swingable relative to bracket 51 about a horizontal axis defined by end portion 56. Whip member 55 extends from bracket 51 generally in the direction opposed to the indexing movement of belt 11, and such whip member 55 is longitudinally dimensioned so that its free end portion 57 will be adapted t extend between the inflating and rest stations S and S When bracket 51 is in its normal angled position shown on FIG. 1, and whip member 55 extends therefrom substantially in a horizontal plane, as shown on FIG. 3, the end portion 57 of the whip member is displaced to one side of the path of conveying belt 11 so as to avoid interference with movement of a balloon from rest station S to inflating station S However, when bracket 51 is angularly displaced, as hereinafter described in detail, so as to extend substantially parallel to the path of belt 11 thereabove, for example, as shown on FIG. 5, end portion 57 of whip member 55 is moved laterally under the path of the belt, and thus is disposed above an end portion of the balloon disposed at the inflating station and hung up on blocking member 34 or on the adjacent edge portion of aperture 14, as shown on FIGS. 4 and 5. With end portion 57 of whip member 55 thus disposed under the path of belt 11, downward swinging of whip member 55, for example, to the position shown in broken lines at 55 on FIGS. 4 and 6, will cause the end portion 57 of the whip member to act on the balloon at the inflating station S so as to surely dislodge the end portion of such balloon from blocking member 34, or from the adjacent edge portion of aperture 14, whereby to ensure that the balloon at the inflating station freely depends from belt 11 through aperture 14.

In the whip assembly 50, as shown, the movement of bracket 51 from its angled position (FIG. 1) to which it is urged by torsion spring 53 is effected by the engagement of ejecting member 29 with flange 54 of bracket 51 during the indexing stroke of nozzle 15, that is, movement of nozzle 15 to inflating station S (FIG. 4). Since ejecting member 29 extends downwardly through an opening of belt 11 during such movement of nozzle 15, and moves in advance of nozzle 15, the ejecting member 29 acts slidably on flange 54 (FIG. 5) and thereby angularly displaces bracket 51 to the position parallel to the path of the belt. During the return movement of nozzle 15 to rest station S nozzle 15 and ejecting member 29 are retracted upwardly above belt 11 so that, at the initiation of such return movement of the nozzle, ejecting member 29 is disengaged from flange 54 of bracket 51 to permit return of the latter to its angled position, whereby end portion 57 of whip member 55 is again displaced to one side of the path of belt 11.

Whip member 55 is normally held in its horizontal position, as shown in full lines on FIGS. 4 and 6, by means of a torsional spring 58 (FIG. 5) which extends around an extension of end portion 56 and acts upwardly against a radial pin 59 extending from a collar 60- which is suitabl fixed on end portion 56. The upward pivoting of whip member 55 by spring 58 is suitably limited, as by a radial pin 61 extending from collar 60 and engageable with a stop 62 projecting from bracket 51. In order to effect the downward swinging movement of Whip member 55, the assembly 50 further comprises a cylinder 63 suitably supported, preferably at an angle to the vertical, on a bracket 64 extending upwardly from wall 10 A piston 65 (FIG. 6) is reciprocable in cylinder 63 and a piston rod 66 extends from piston 65 out of cylinder 63 and carries an actuating head '67 at its free end. A spring 68 may be provided within cylinder 63 to act on piston 65 for urging piston rod 66 to its retracted position shown in full lines on FIG. 6, and fluid under pressure, preferably compressed air, may be supplied to the upper end of cylinder 63, as through a flexible conduit 69, so as to cause piston 65 to move against the force of spring 68 and thereby extend piston rod 6 6, for example, to the position shown in broken lines on FIG. 6. A bracket 70 (FIGS. 1, 5 and 6) is suitably secured on the end portion 56 of whip member 5-5 adjacent collar 60 and extends upwardly therefrom into the path of travel of the head 67 on piston rod 66. Thus, after bracket 51 has been angularly displaced to the position shown on FIG. 5, as described above, compressed air is suitably supplied through conduit 69 to cylinder 63 to cause extension of piston rod 66, whereby head 67 on the piston rod acts against the upstanding portion of bracket 70 to rock the latter to the position indicated in broken lines at 70' on FIG. 6, and thereby to rock or swing whip member 55 to the depressed or downwardly inclined position indicated at 55. The supplying of air under pressure to cylinder 63 is suitably controlled in relation to the operation of the other previously described components of the balloon vending machine so that whip member 55 is moved downwardly to the position 55 only after a balloon has arrived at inflating station S and further so that the supplying of compressed air to cylinder 63 is discontinued to permit return of the whip member to its horizontal position prior to the inflation of the balloon at the inflating station.

Thus, it will be seen that the whip member 55, when actuated as described above, is effective to ensure that each balloon at the inflating station will freely depend from belt 11 through aperture 14 prior to the inflation of the balloon, and that the whip member 55 is returned to its horizontal position to avoid any interference with the inflation of the balloon.

Although an illustrative embodiment of this invention has been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art Without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for vending inflated balloons from a flexible conveying belt having openings uniformly spaced apart along the belt to receive and frictionally retain therein the necks of uninflated balloons each having a check valve in the respective neck, and in which the belt is guided with the balloons depending therefrom in a substantially horizontal path past a rest station and an inflating station spaced apart by substantially the distance between adjacent openings -in the belt, and an inflating nozzle is engaged from above with the check valve of a balloon at said rest station and, while thus engaged, is moved parallel to said path to said inflating station for indexing the belt whereupon the balloon at said inflating station is inflated with gases supplied through said nozzle engaged with its check valve: the combination of a blocking member disposed under said path at said rest station and being movable between a raised position, where it is located closely below the check valve of a balloon at said rest station to prevent the downward removal of such balloon from the belt and further to stabilize the check valve during its engagement by said nozzle at said rest station, and a lowered position where said blocking member trees a balloon at said rest station for movement to said inflating station with said indexing of the belt, and actuating means for said blocking member to dispose the latter in said raised position when said nozzle is at said rest station and to dispose said blocking member in said lowered position upon movement of said nozzle from said rest station to said inflating station.

2. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 1, in which a horizontal wall underlies said path and has an aperture in the region of said inflating station through which a balloon can extend during its inflation, and said blocking member extends over said wall substantially to said aperture and has a substantially vertically directed end portion adjacent said aperture to hinder access through said aperture to the space between said wall and said path when said blocking member is in sa1d ralsed position. I

3. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 2, in which said end portion of the blocking member extends downwardly therefrom and extends through said aperture in said lowered position of said blocking member.

4. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 2, in which said nozzle is mounted on a reciprocable carriage for its movement parallel to sald path, and said actuating means includes an operating member on said carriage causing said actuating means to dispose said blocking member in said raised position when said carriage is positioned to locate said nozzle at said rest section.

5. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 4, in which said blocking member is pivotally mounted so as to be gravitationally urged to said lowered position, and said actuating means includes a pivoted lever member engageable at one end by said operating member and engageable at its other end with said blocking member.

6. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 2, further comprising a whip member movable downwardly through said aperture between said inflating and rest stations prior to inflation of a balloon at said inflating station so as to ensure that the balloon to be inflated depends freely from the belt through said aperture.

7. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 6, in which said whip member is normally displaced to one side of said path to avoid interference with movement of balloons from said rest station to said inflating station, and means to move said whip member laterally under said path upon movement of said nozzle from said rest station to said inflating station.

8. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 7, in which said nozzle is mounted on a reciprocable carriage for its movement parallel to said path, an ejecting member is also mounted on said carriage to move as a unit with said nozzle and extends downwardly in the belt opening in advance of that containing the balloon having its check valve engaged by said nozzle during movement of the latter from said rest station to said inflating station, and said means to move said whip member laterally under said path is actuated by said ejecting member during said movement of the nozzle from said rest station to said inflating station.

9. In a machine for vending inflated balloons from a flexible conveying belt having openings uniformly spaced apart along the belt to receive and frictionally retain therein the necks of uninflated balloons each having a check valve in the respective neck, and in which the belt is guided with the balloons depending therefrom in a substantially horizontal path past a rest station and an inflating station spaced apart by substantially the distance between adjacent openings in the belt, and an inflating nozzle is engaged from above with the check valve of a balloon at said rest station and, while thus engaged, is moved parallel to said path to said inflating station for indexing the belt whereupon the balloon at said inflating station is inflated with gases supplied through said nozzle engaged with its check valve: the combination of a whip member movable downwardly from under said path between said inflating and rest stations after a balloon has been moved to said inflating station to ensure that such balloon depends freely from the belt prior to its inflation, means normally displacing said whip member to one side of said path to avoid interference with movement of balloons from said rest station to said inflating station, and means to move said whip member laterally under said path upon movement of said nozzle to said inflating station.

10. A machine for vending inflated balloons as in claim 9, in which said nozzle is mounted on a reciprocable carriage for its movement parallel to said path, an ejecting member is also mounted on said carriage to move as a unit with said nozzle and extends downwardly in the belt opening in advance of that containing the balloon having its check valve engaged by said nozzle during movement of the latter from said rest station to said inflating station, and said means to move said whip member laterally under said path is actuated by said ejecting member during said movement of the nozzle from said rest station to said inflating station.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,323,517 7/1943 Clem 312-97 X 3,380,490 4/1968 Ellenberg et al. 141-173 X 3,536,110 10/1970 West 141-167 X LAV-ERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner E. J. EARLS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

